“Lieutenant Penston instructed that we were to split into two sections. Nelson and I, and Marsh and him. We were to approach the structure and, on his signal, breach the inside and neutralize the occupants. When we questioned his orders and suggested that possibly he was misreading the mission we’d been given, the lieutenant was adamant that we were to follow his orders.” Look at Rick being all politically correct. He hadn’t thrown Penston under the bus, but also hadn’t protected him either.
“Is that your understanding as well, Lieutenant Nelson?”
“Yes, sir.” Nelson was quick to back up Rick.
Lewis turned to the sergeant and asked, “Have you located the missing section commander, Master Sergeant Dash?”
“Yes, sir, we’ve located the other two lieutenants approximately half a mile from here,” Master Sergeant Dash said.
“And? Where are they?” Lewis sounded like he was about to kill someone.
Dash stood in front of Captain Lewis and Rick would swear the master sergeant was fidgeting. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. He watched as Dash put his hands behind his back and straightened his shoulders before he met the captain’s eyes. “The lieutenants were found standing on top of their Humvee in Upatoi Creek.”
Had he heard Dash correctly? It was fucking September in Georgia and it hadn’t rained in days. “They were in the creek on top of their Humvee?” Rick realized what he’d done. “My apologies for speaking out of turn, Captain Lewis.”
“Relax, Stanton. You were able to find your voice before me and asked exactly what I would have. What a good commanderwould have asked for clarification,” Lewis said before turning to the NCO. “Do you know what happened, Dash?”
“Not from the lieutenants, sir. I have a guess, and I think it’s pretty accurate. I believe the lieutenants did not pay attention to the safety briefing regarding the engineering brigade training over at Upatoi Creek,” the sergeant offered.
“They did not…are you saying they…?” Lewis seemed stunned. He couldn’t finish his sentences.
He couldn’t hold it in. Rick started to laugh, then said, “They drove over the temporary bridge that the engineers are constructing as a field exercise? Guess the bridge isn’t finished yet?”
It didn’t take long for Dash, Lewis, and Nelson to join Rick in laughing. Once they got themselves back under control, Lewis said, “They did what Stanton said, didn’t they? Dumbasses.” He shook his head. “Did they have an explanation as to why they were so far from their objective?”
Dash shrugged. “Sergeant Nixon hasn’t approached the lieutenants, sir.”
Captain Lewis looked to the sky and let out a harsh breath. “Dash, take these two back to the tent. Tell the first sergeant that I’m done with them for the night. I’m headed to deal with our wayward lieutenants. Radio Nixon. Tell him I’m swinging by to pick up the Lieutenant Colonel and to continue to observe until we arrive.” Captain Lewis turned on his heel and strode off. Oh, it wasn’t good if the lieutenant colonel was going out.
Rick followed Dash to the Humvee, saying nothing as he climbed into the passenger seat. Nelson scrambled into the back seat, moving faster than Rick had seen him move before.
Master Sergeant Dash put the Humvee in gear and drove off. They hadn’t been in motion for more than a minute before hesaid, “You two followed the orders that you were given. You were found outside of the correct location. I wouldn’t be overly concerned with your actions tonight. I’d be happy to have either of you as my platoon commander.”
The master sergeant’s statement left Rick speechless. Having a senior NCO pay him that compliment meant a lot. Nelson seemed just as shocked.
“Thank you, Master Sergeant. I learned from my roommate that the best way to keep everything moving as it should in a unit was to listen to the NCOs. Hearing I’m on the right track reinforces that.”
The sergeant parked the Humvee next to the tent and climbed out. “After you, sirs.”
When Rick and Nelson stepped into the tent, Rick could only describe the atmosphere as controlled chaos. Four simulations were happening concurrently. Soldiers monitored the communications for each one and kept the cadre informed of the status. Rick felt kind of bad for the sergeant who had been in charge of theirs. The cadre couldn’t have been happy that they didn’t seem to be conducting the assigned scenario and to have two missing? Yeah, Rick was glad it wasn’t going to be his or Nelson’s ass on the line.
“Top is in the far corner. Lieutenant Poole and his team were closing in on their objective when we went in search of your section commander,” Dash said as he pointed off to Rick’s left.
“Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll find him.” Rick moved toward the corner, Nelson right on his six. Maybe they’d get out of here early enough that he could catch Coop for a few minutes beforehe crashed for the night. Coop dragged any time after ten when he spent enough time on the track.
“Hooah! Objective secured, First Sergeant,” the sergeant sitting in front of the radio told the senior NCO.
First Sergeant Withers slapped the sergeant on his shoulder. “Make sure that the transcripts are saved from the cadre and then you’re done for the night.” Withers looked up and nodded to Rick and Nelson. “Sirs, hear you’ve had a strange night.”
Rick gave it to the first sergeant. He didn’t say anything negative regarding the officer in charge of their mission that night but did voice some hesitation in his thoughts.
“It’s been that, First Sergeant. Captain Lewis is en route to our section commander’s location after retrieving Lieutenant Colonel Williams. He instructed us to report back here and inform you that he was done with us for the night. Is there something that we can assist with, Top?” Rick finished with the offer to the senior NCO. From Rick’s experience, Withers was a first sergeant who had earned the honorific. He kept his eye on things and didn’t hesitate to support his soldiers. If Rick had learned anything from Drew and his family, it was to take care of the soldiers.
Withers looked around the tent and shook his head. “I think we’re good, sir. I know that someone’s rucksack has been making a lot of noise for the past few hours on a regular basis. Not sure which one of you left your ringer on. We weren’t going to go digging to figure it out.”
“Hopefully it was just a persistent telemarketer, Top. And please, Lord baby Jesus, let it not be my phone. I know better than to not put my phone on silent after the master sergeant’s lesson at ROTC.” Rick honestly didn’t remember if he even brought his phone with him. He thought he’d left it in his roomon the charger, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to have it on him during the exercise.
Nelson hot-footed it to the corner where they’d left their rucks. He found his quickly and pulled out his phone. Two seconds and he was shaking his head. “Not mine, Rick. You?”
